Australia to Prevent Development of New Coal Mine
2022-08-06
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1Australia's new government announced recently that it plans to prevent development of a coal mine due to the possible effects on the nearby Great Barrier Reef.
2Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said she plans to deny approval for the Central Queensland Coal Project.
3The minority Greens party has been asking the center-left Labor Party government, which was elected in May, to refuse approvals of coal and gas projects.
4The goal is to help reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions.
5Plibersek said in a statement, "Based on the information available to me at this stage, I believe that the project would be likely to have unacceptable impacts to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, and the values of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and National Heritage Place."
6The mine's supporters have until the middle of August to answer the proposed refusal before the minister makes her final decision.
7The Greens welcomed the news and urged the minister to reject another 26 planned coal mines.
8Greens leader Adam Bandt said in a statement,
9"Now we need an across-the-board moratorium on all new coal and gas projects."
10A moratorium is a time when an activity is not permitted.
11The proposed decision was announced after the House of Representatives passed a bill that would put into law a reduction in Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 43 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2030.
12The previous government's target had been a reduction of between 26 to 28 percent, set at the Paris climate conference in 2015.
13I'm John Russell.
1Australia's new government announced recently that it plans to prevent development of a coal mine due to the possible effects on the nearby Great Barrier Reef. 2Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said she plans to deny approval for the Central Queensland Coal Project. 3The minority Greens party has been asking the center-left Labor Party government, which was elected in May, to refuse approvals of coal and gas projects. 4The goal is to help reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions. 5Plibersek said in a statement, "Based on the information available to me at this stage, I believe that the project would be likely to have unacceptable impacts to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, and the values of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and National Heritage Place." 6The mine's supporters have until the middle of August to answer the proposed refusal before the minister makes her final decision. 7The Greens welcomed the news and urged the minister to reject another 26 planned coal mines. 8Greens leader Adam Bandt said in a statement, "Now we need an across-the-board moratorium on all new coal and gas projects." 9A moratorium is a time when an activity is not permitted. 10The proposed decision was announced after the House of Representatives passed a bill that would put into law a reduction in Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 43 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2030. 11The previous government's target had been a reduction of between 26 to 28 percent, set at the Paris climate conference in 2015. 12I'm John Russell. 13Rod McGuirk reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. 14_______________________________________________________________________ 15Words in This Story 16reef - n. a long line of rocks or coral or a high area of sand near the surface of the water in the ocean 17stage - n. a particular point or period in the growth or development of something 18impact - n. a powerful or major influence or effect 19across-the-board - adj. affecting everyone or everything in a group 20_____________________________________________________________________ 21What do you think of coal power? We want to hear from you. 22We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 23Write your comment in the box. 24Under the box, you can see four images for social media accounts. They are for Disqus, Facebook, Twitter and Google. 25Click on one image and a box appears. Enter the login for your social media account. Or you may create one on the Disqus system. It is the blue circle with "D" on it. It is free. 26Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.